Before You Go
by LordHeathcliff
Summary: Truth was intrigued by Edward Elric the moment they met. When Ed sacrifices his alchemy to save Al, Truth can't see his adventures anymore. When Ed dies decades later, Truth brings him in front of the Gate once again, to hear Ed's life story. What adventures did Ed find on his travels?
1. Welcome Back

_Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any of its characters. _

_This is my first fic, so i hope you enjoy it! Reviews are appreciated. _

A lifetime had passed, but the Gate World hadn't changed at all since the last time Ed had been there. He glanced around the white blankness that expanded beyond his vision, seemingly without limit. It was strange, that a world so featureless felt so familiar to Ed. It almost felt like only a moment had passed since Ed's last visit to this place. But of course, it had been decades.

But while the world hadn't changed, Ed himself had changed quite a bit. He was old now, but he had lived his life to the fullest. He had traveled all across the world. From Amestris, to Xing, to the ruins of Xerxes, and back again. However, he was far from worn down. He stood straight and proud, like the State Alchemist he had been in his youth. His body didn't have the strength that he had during his days as a State Alchemist, but he remained rather fit, considering his age. He had grown quite a bit during his life, he was now roughly the same height that Hohenheim had been (though he never got over his sensitivity to short jokes). His hair had grown out also, reaching down to the small of his back, the yellow-gold hair now streaked with gray. His golden eyes, proudly displaying his Xerxian heritage, were sharp and focused, revealing the intelligent mind that hadn't faded one bit with age.

Ed looked down at the figure in front of him. The figure was as unchanged as the world it inhabited. Stark white, with only a wide smile and a dark aura giving it distinction from the empty expanse it called home. They were once the same height, back when Ed could still use alchemy. But while he had grown, the figure had remained the same size. The figure's name was Truth, and it oversaw all the uses of alchemy in the world. Truth sat leaning, like it always did, against the Gate that stood behind it. Ed raised his eyes to look at the Gate that he had sacrificed so many decades ago. It was an amazing sight, the ebony material standing out dramatically against the white. All the knowledge and power of God himself behind those doors .

"The Gate looks stunning, as always, doesn't it Edward? Even for me, staring at it never gets old". Truth said.

"After my last transmutation, i thought i would never see it again. Or you, for that matter." Ed said.

"Well, under normal circumstances, that would be true. But then again, your circumstances never _are_ normal, are they Edward? Anyways, when i saw that you had died, i knew i couldn't just let you go without seeing you first. So, i decided to restore your Gate, just temporarily, so that i could bring you here".

"Well why _did_ you bring me here? Not to be rude or anything, but i was under the impression that i would just…I don't know, pass on." Ed shrugged, shifting his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. Truth threw back its head and laughed in derision.

"Pass on? what were you expecting? A flash of white light? Angels carrying you up to a palace of clouds? Come on, Ed. Can I call you Ed? I just wanted talk with you, before i send you on your way. I've waited a long time for this, and it's finally time!".

"Oh. Uh, alright. I didn't think i was important enough for the Universe itself to take an interest."

"Oh, Ed. You're selling yourself short. You're one of the most important people I've ever met."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT SHORT?!"

"No Ed, i mean it. You saved the world. I mean sure, it was a group effort, but you led the charge. You were the one who defeated Homunculus. You saved Amestris, and everyone in it. And if you had just left it at that, you would still have been hailed as a hero. But you didn't stop there. You sacrificed your alchemy, the source of your power, to save your brother. I have seen things that defy comprehension Ed, but i had never seen something like that before. But sadly, that's where the tale of Edward Elric ended, for me anyway. But here are. We can pick up where we left off. I can't wait to hear about how the Fullmetal Alchemist lived his life."

For a moment, Ed just stood there, not saying anything. He thought over what Truth had said to him, and eventually found the words to convey what he felt.

"I….I never really felt like what i did deserved this kind of recognition. Sure, i defeated Homunculus, but like you said, it was a group effort. I was just one part of a larger whole. I think that is what alchemy is all about. Everyone working together, protecting each other. If that doesn't perfectly show All is One, One is All, i don't know what will"

Now it was Truth that was silent. Its grin left its face for the first time in their conversation. Suddenly, Truth stood up and extended its hands, its grin now back even larger than before.

"Oh, Edward Eric! I swear, each time we meet, you show me a perspective i have never seen before! Before i met you, i never thought that a human could teach me so much! Alright, let's get this started. Start from the beginning, right after you performed the transmutation! I want to know it all!"

"Alright, i'm up for anything. Here we go". Knowing this would be a long story, Ed sat down on the ground. Truth did the same, almost shaking with anticipation. Ed drew in a deep breath, and began his story.

**Hello! I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of my story. I plan on writing more chapters, and i hope you plan on reading them! Reviews are appreciated, thank you very much.**


	2. Let's Go Home

**Hello! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any of its characters.**

After the Gate World on the Promised Day, the very first thing I did, was nothing. I know that doesn't sound very impressive, but I wasn't sure what was going to happen. For the first time in my life, I didn't have my alchemy. I didn't know what it would feel like, so i just stood there, waiting for the feeling to hit me. And it didn't. Nothing happened at all. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting to feel the exact same as I did before. I remember at the time, that completely bewildered me. Alchemy had always been such a big part of my life, how could I not feel any different now that it was gone?

But then I looked around, and I saw him. I saw Al, in his own body, for the first time in years. Our eyes met, and any other thoughts vanished from my mind instantly. The sight of those golden eyes, just like mine, washed away any confusion, any pain. All that mattered now was that my brother was himself again. I made my way over to him, half-expecting everything to fade away, revealing that the day I had waited so long for was only a dream. But I reached him, and he was still there. We just looked at each other for a second, before I extended my hand down for him to take.

"Welcome back, Al"

"It's good to be back, Brother"

He took my hand, and I pulled him up, into the biggest hug I had ever given to anyone. I tried to be gentle, considering how atrophied he was, but I finally was holding my brother's real body in my arms, and I never wanted to let go. Al's eyes were filled with tears, and he was sobbing softly, but he held it together better than I did. I'm not ashamed to say that I was crying like a damn baby. Finally, after three years, I had fixed my mistake. The hell I had gotten my brother into was finally over.

We could finally go home.

Well, we would have to wait a bit longer to go home. Al's body was too atrophied for him to move on his own at first, so we stayed in a hospital in Central for a few weeks while he went through some pretty rigorous physical therapy Not only that, but I needed to recover from my fight with Father. In all the excitement, I had forgotten that I had gotten hurt. I'll never forget that first night in the hospital. I swear, there wasn't a single moment that Al's face wasn't covered in an ear-to-ear smile. I was completely focused on him, so I didn't notice myself, but Al told me later that I had the exact same smile. He did everything he could think of with his body, now that he had it back. Well, he did what he could, considering his atrophy. That essentially consisted of him laying in bed, clapping his hands over and over again, proclaiming "Clapping, Brother! With my own hands!" He spent a large part of the night just looking at his reflection, as if he still couldn't believe he was really back. I can't blame him, though. Every time he looked in the mirror, I was staring right at him. We had worked so hard to get his body back, it felt surreal, now that we had finally done it. But the best part of the night by far, was dinnertime.

The nurse set Al's plate down in front of him, and his eyes lit up like he was a little kid on Christmas. It was a porterhouse steak, with mashed potatoes and melted butter, and steamed green beans. And, of course, a tall glass of milk. Al picked up his fork and knife with trembling hands, both from the atrophy, and from his excitement. He carefully cut a large piece of the steak, spearing it on his fork. He stared at it for a moment, before slowly lifting it up to his mouth. The nurse had left the room, it was just the two of us. I was completely silent as Al took his first bite of food in three years. He chewed it carefully, with his eyes closed. I was holding my breath, shaking with anticipation for his reaction. As he swallowed, he set his knife and fork down. He drew in a shaky breath, and single tear rolled down his cheek. He looked up at me, with an expression of pure, undiluted joy on his face.

"Delicious. It's so delicious!" He exclaimed in a shaky voice. He gave a choked, shuddering laugh, almost being overcome by his happiness. And I was laughing right along with him. I was so glad to see him like this, to see him back in his own body, where he belonged.

The rest our stay in the hospital was a blur of interviews and debriefings from reporters and military officials alike. Al and I answered what we could, and asked questions of our own. Now officially, we weren't supposed to be briefed on the events, given our health conditions. But one benefit of being the heroes is that when you ask questions, people answer. We learned that in the aftermath of the battle, Ling, Lan Fan and Mei had already headed back to Xing, with a philosopher stone. We were told that they had wanted to visit us before they left, (Mei was especially looking forward to it) but they needed to get Ling inaugurated as the Emperor as soon as possible. Al and I weren't upset that they hadn't visited us, we knew how important it was to him. Besides we knew we'd see them again. After all, who else would pay for Ling's meals? All official political matters were being overseen by General Grumman, who had somehow been appointed Furer amidst the chaos. He was doing an exceptional job, considering the extreme circumstances in which he took office.

But everyone knew that was a temporary situation. Roy Mustang had been made a general for his outstanding service, but everyone knew one day the mantle would pass from Grumman to Mustang, when he was ready for it. In fact, if he had asked for it up front, they probably would have given to him! But no, Mustang had turned down the initial offer. When I first heard that, I couldn't believe my ears. Roy Mustang, refusing the position of Furer? It seemed more likely that he would legally change his name to "Roy-boy". However, then I heard his reason for doing to. He said that he wanted to restore Ishval first, to atone for his sins during the war. Once Ishval had been restored, we would work on shaping Amestris into the nation its citizens deserved.

That sounded more like the Roy Mustang I knew. He had lost his vision, but that didn't stop him from seeing his path to a brighter future. I had never met a more ambitious, or stubborn man in all my years. Well, except maybe myself. He had quite a bit of work ahead of himself, so he couldn't make it to visit us. Lieutenant Hawkeye, as expected, refused to leave his side, so she couldn't visit either. But if I knew anything, it was that Mustang wasn't disregard his comrades. He'd check in, when he could.

While many people couldn't come to see us, we still got plenty of visitors. Major Armstrong had actually come several times, to offer us, as he put it, "An atrophy-reversing, muscle-restoring exercise method that had been passed down through generations of the Armstrong Family". After we regretfully declined, he would leave, promising to be back in a few days, to offer it again. Gracia and Elicia Hughes had come to visit as well. It was great to see them, it had felt like a lifetime ago since I had seen them last. But at the same time, I felt a pang of sadness as i felt the void that was left by the absence of Maes Hughes. But at the same time, Elicia looked up at me, with happiness in her eyes that I hadn't seen since before her father's murder. It was then that I decided that if Elicia could smile, than so would I. They stayed for a few hours, and we played but when Elicia fell asleep, Gracia picked her up, and they departed. Zampano, Jerso, Heinkel, and Darius came by too, but it wasn't for very long, because they were heading to East City. Apparently, they had bought the Devil's Nest, and were planning to run it together.

Four chimera ex-soldiers buy a bar together? Sounds like the set-up to a bad joke.

It was great that so many people had come to see us, but I couldn't fight off the disappointment I felt when the person I wanted to see most wasn't there.

But I knew I was being ridiculous. Winry had to stay in Resembool. She had recovered quickly from the National Transmutation Circle, but Pinako wasn't as young, or as healthy, and Winry needed to be with her while she recovered. Besides, I would see her in a few weeks, when we were discharged from the hospital. Still, every night before I went to sleep, I thought of how Winry would react when we came home. We had decided not to tell her over the phone about getting Al's body back, because we wanted it to be a surprise. So the smart bet was that Winry would beat both of us over the head with her trusty wrench, for not telling her something like that immediately.

When Al and I had recovered enough, we set out for Resembool. We took the train, like we always did. On the way, Al ordered everything on the train's refreshment cart. It was quite the sight. He wolfed it all down in what seemed like an instant. I was surprised. Back before Al lost his body, he had never eaten like that.

"Jeez Al, the food isn't going to run away from you" I joked.

"Brother, I've watched that refreshment cart pass me by for three years! I swore that one day, I was going to eat everything on it, all at once! And that day is finally here!"

"Haha, alright. Well hey, I hope you didn't get too full. You know what's waiting for us in Resembool, don't you?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Oh. you don't remember? I'm surprised at you, Al"

"Come on Brother, just tell me!"

"I don't know Al. Maybe I should just let it surprise you"

"And maybe I should tell Winry that you haven't been properly maintaining your automail every night, Brother"

"W-What!? You wouldn't dare!"

"Well, maybe if you tell me what's in Resembool, I'll just happen to forget it" Al said, through a stone-cold poker face.

"Alright, alright, you extortionist. Think about it. What is the one thing, more than anything else, that you've wanted to eat these past three years?"

"Well that's….WINRY'S APPLE PIE! I can't believe I forgot about it!"

"Well it's understandable. A lot has happened since the last time we talked about it. What ever happened to that book you had? The one where you wrote down all the foods you wanted to eat?"

"Oh, that got lost a while ago. Back when Pride nabbed me and possessed me, his shadows ripped right through it when they pierced my armor."

"Oh, I'm sorry Al"

"Don't be, Brother. This just means that, without it, I'll have to eat as much delicious food as possible, to make up for it!"

"Well, you'll have plenty of time for that. But for now, we've arrived."

Just as I said that, the train rumbled to a stop, arriving in Resembool Station. I moved to help Al up, but he was already pulling himself up with his cane. I grabbed our bags, and we stepped off the train. We stepped onto the station, and took in the first view of our hometown in what felt like a lifetime.

I had seen a lot of things at that point in my life. I had seen grand palaces, great ravines, and mountains that seemed to pierce the sky itself. And while those things were all amazing, nothing I had seen was quite like the rolling, green hills of Resembool. It wasn't that they were majestic, or awe-inspiring, it was actually quite the opposite. It felt simple, and peaceful. It felt calm, and isolated. Well, those are all true, but there's only one word that I felt described it perfectly.

Home.

We started the walk back home, but Al suggested we make a stop first. I knew immediately what he meant, and nodded my head solemnly. We turned off our path, and made our way to the cemetery at the top of a hill. We made our way over to two of the graves, near the center of the cemetery. It was still early in the afternoon, the warm sunlight washed over the tombstones, displaying the words engraved into them clearly.

Trisha Elric, 1872-1904 & Van Hohenheim, 1464-1915.

We kneeled down, paying our parents our respects silently. I'm not a religious man, ask anyone. But now that I had seen God with my own eyes, I supposed it wouldn't hurt to send a small prayer up to my parents, on the off chance they could hear me.

_Hey Mom. I know it's been a while since i visited you, and i'm sorry about that. But there was a lot I needed to do. And hey, you always taught me to fix my mistakes, right?...I know how ashamed of me you must be, after what happened. I know that I broke the one taboo of alchemy. But more importantly, I dishonored your memory with what I did. But I want you to know, there won't be a single day of my life that I don't honor your memory every way I can. I promise. I love you Mom, and I hope that, if you can see me now, you'd be proud of me._

I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. I took another deep breath, and turned to my father's grave.

_Hey…...I know that we never really had a heart-to-heart or anything, but…..I think you knew that i didn't hate you, not really. You left us when we were so young, I didn't even understand what was happening. But I understand now. I know that you were doing what you needed to do. But when you came back, I didn't know what to say to you. You were gone, and then….Mom was gone too. I know it was stupid of me, but in a way, I resented you for not being there. I thought that, somehow, if you had stuck around, you could have saved her. But I know now that that wasn't your fault. No matter how you look at it, we couldn't have saved Amestris without you. You saved my life, and Al's life, and that's something I'll never forget. I don't really know how these prayer things work, so you might not have heard, but I swore to honor Mom's memory each day of my life. And...I swear I'll honor yours too. I didn't get to say goodbye the last time we met, but I can now. Goodbye….Dad._

Al and I stood up at the same time. We looked at each other, and we moved as one, turning back the way we came, and made our way back down the hill. Al and I never told each other what we had said to our parents in our prayers. In fact, we never told anyone, until now. In that moment, we had come to an unspoken vow that our words to our parents would be kept private, just for us, and for them.

We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable, companionable silence. As the Rockbell household came into view, Al stopped walking. I turned to him worriedly.

"Are you alright, Al?"

"...Yeah, it's just…"

"You can't believe we're finally back, right?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I was thinking the exact same thing. We've been gone a long time. We've lost a lot along the way, too. But it's finally over, Al. We made it. Let's go home"

We resumed walking. As we approached the porch, we saw Den dozing right above the steps. He suddenly awakened. He stood up, looking at us.

"Hey Den. We're back!" Al said. Den turned to him, and stood completely still. I had never seen a dog look dumbfounded before, but that was the only way to describe how Den looked at that moment. Suddenly, he leapt from the porch, bounding right towards Al, yipping and barking like there was no tomorrow. Al was floored by the sudden attack of affection, and I knelt down beside him, laughing at the sudden turn of events.

All the commotion must have gotten Winry's attention, because she suddenly burst out from the house onto the front porch.

She looked at us, and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Al. Her face was priceless. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, her mouth gaped open in shock. Her beautiful, blue eyes welled up with tears as she saw her friend, practically her brother, finally restored.

After Al recovered from Den's ferocious licking, we stood back up. Winry leaped from the porch at us. We braced ourselves for the rage that Winry would surely unleash on us for keeping something like this from her for so long.

But instead, she pulled us both into a hug that was so tight, I thought it would reopen my wounds. Her momentum knocked us off balance, we all went tumbling to the ground.

"Welcome home, you dummies!"

**Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This felt like a natural stopping point for the chapter, since that's how it went in the anime. I have midterms this week, so I might not update until after that. Please follow, favorite, and review!**


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